4.50

FreewareFiles Editor's Review

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Editor's Rating

If you've owned a PC for awhile, you've probably noticed that your system will occasionally display notifications about unknown hardware or devices. This is especially true for anyone who is dealing with a new Windows install due to wanting an upgrade or those putting the operating system on a custom built PC. Even if you try to have all of your major components' drivers installed before adding Windows to the equation, you'll typically end up missing an obscure, unidentified device within your PC that will result in an error. To end the headache of Windows not recognizing your system's hardware, you can try a hardware identifier such as Tweaking.com's Hardware Identify.

Using Hardware Identify

It's free to download Hardware Identify, and both downloading and installing are quick and easy processes. The lightweight software has a very clean interface, which makes it simple to understand for users of all experience levels. To use it, you open up Hardware Identify, allow it to scan your system, and it will produce a list of all your hardware. There are tabs that you can explore that will tell you which devices on your system have no drivers and which ones are experiencing problems. In the hardware list, there's a handy column that will display any detected error codes or say "OK" if the hardware is functioning like it should.

Another great feature of Hardware Identify is its ability to lookup the hardware of your choice. While looking at the list of your PC's devices, highlight one by clicking on it and then click the button on the screen that says "Lookup Selected Device". You won't be able to download any drivers via Hardware Identify, but the program does have a button that you can click that will search Google for drivers for each hardware ID.

Conclusion

If you've been trying to find drivers for a device that Windows can't recognize, you'll find this program especially useful. The one thing that would take this program over the top is the ability to not only act as a hardware identifier, but a means of downloading missing drivers. Still, in its current easy to use and understand state, Hardware Identify definitely does what it sets out to do. Hardware Identify is a nice tool to have on hand for basic hardware maintenance.